Lajos Sătmăreanu

Lajos Sătmăreanu (; also known as Ludovic Sătmăreanu, , 21 February 1944 – 30 June 2025) was a Romanian footballer and manager who played as a right-back. He played for the Romanian Olympic and national teams, as well as various Romanian clubs, winning a Divizia A title and five Cupa României. Later in life, he coached or managed various clubs, both youth and professional clubs.

Club career Sătmăreanu, nicknamed Facchetti of the Carpathians, was born on 21 February 1944 in Salonta, Hungary (now Romania), and began playing football in 1958 at local club Recolta. He made his Divizia A debut on 17 March 1963, playing for Crișana Oradea under coach Constantin Woronkowski in a 4–2 away loss to Steaua București. Shortly afterwards he moved to play at neighboring team Flamura Roșie in Divizia B for one season. He also won five Cupa României, playing in all the finals, scoring the last goal of the 4–0 victory against UTA Arad in the 1966 final. For the way he played in 1968, Sătmăreanu was placed third in the ranking for the Romanian Footballer of the Year award, and was fourth in the following year. German club Hertha BSC wanted to sign Sătmăreanu after his performance in the 1970 World Cup, but Romania's communist regime refused to let him go. During his period spent with The Military Men, he also played 20 games in European competitions.

In 1975, he joined fellow Divizia A team Bihor Oradea, leaving after half a season to play in Divizia B for Progresul București under the guidance of coach Viorel Mateianu. Sătmăreanu helped Progresul earn promotion to the first league, making his last Divizia A appearance on 8 June 1977 in a 2–1 home victory against FCM Reșița, totaling 306 matches with six goals in the competition. He competed for the Romanian Olympic team from 1967 to 1968, where he made two appearances. Coach Angelo Niculescu used him for the entirety of all three games in the final tournament which were a win against Czechoslovakia and losses to England and Brazil, as his side failed to progress from their group.

For representing his country at the 1970 World Cup, Sătmăreanu was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

Coaching career Sătmăreanu worked as a coach at the juvenile level, mostly at Steaua București where between 1977 and 2011 he taught generations of players, which include Daniel Gherasim, Dan Petrescu, Marius Mitu, Robert Niță and George Ogăraru. Afterwards, he coached juniors at Școala Privată de Fotbal "Vasile Matincă" for a short while.

Personal life and death Sătmăreanu was of Hungarian ethnicity.

He died on 30 June 2025, at the age of 81.

Career statistics Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sătmăreanu goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Lajos Sătmăreanu # Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition 1 29 April 1972 Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary 31 1–1 1–1 Euro 1972 quarter-finals

Honours Steaua București Divizia A: 1967–68 Cupa României: 1965–66, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71 Progresul București Divizia B: 1975–76 Individual Romanian Footballer of the Year (third place): 1968, (fourth place): 1969